This was published 8 years ago
Tech Know: Coffee pod machines
The conversion from coffee pod hater came out of the blue for Jayne D'Arcy.
By Jayne D'Arcy
I was a coffee pod hater. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, right? At first it looked like testing these machines for Tech Know wasn't going to change my mind. I wasn't impressed with the quality of coffee and frothed milk produced by the Lavazza Fantasia. I tried it for 21 days (to get used to the new taste), but the coffee didn't give me the buzz and feeling of satisfaction that my usual stovetop coffee (also Lavazza) did. Then the Breville Pixie Clips arrived with a stack of Nespresso pods. The Aeroccino3 milk frother is a separate unit, so it annoyingly takes up a second power plug but works silently to produce perfectly frothy, warm milk. My almond milk latte was outrageously good. While cooking dinner I gazed longingly at the machine, already looking forward to morning, and my first shot. How does this happen in one day? Seriously! Then I remembered an anti-smoking ad from years back with a girl about to take a drag of a cigarette with a hook coming out of the filter. The tagline was something like: "Before you know it, you're hooked." Now, while my stovetop coffee maker gets that film of green on the base, I'm wondering how on earth I'm going to let the Breville (made in Switzerland, no less!) and Nespresso pods go.
THE VERDICT
Lavazza A Modo Mio Fantasia.
The Pixie Clips Breville is quiet to operate, unobtrusive and makes perfect pod coffee.
BREVILLE PIXIE CLIPS
RRP $349 (including the Aeroccino3)
Breville Pixie Clips.
You can clip on different side panels to the machine (hence the "clips" name), which is probably more gimmicky than anything, and you need two power points, but it works beautifully and impressed me with how compact it is and the coffee and frothed milk it produced. A box of 20 Ristretto capsules costs $13.60 online.
LAVAZZA A MODO MIO FANTASIA
RRP $399
The built-in milk frother is a good idea but essentially is just a plastic jug with a whisk. It doesn't do a great frothing job. Controls aren't great either: it's hard to work out if it registered that you pressed the button for coffee. A box of 16 Appassionatamente capsules costs $11.99 online.
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I'm taking my collection of used Nespresso pods to Nespresso central for recycling. In Victoria there are tonnes of places to take them including florists, as well as the fancy "Nespresso Boutiques" at Doncaster, Emporium and Chadstone. See nespresso.com.au